Slingshot Dakota is a two person pop act from Bethlehem, PA. That city is a suburb of Allentown, which sort of forms an equilateral triangle with New York and Philly at the other points. I had an aunt who lived in Bethlehem a long time ago...
Slingshot Dakota features Carly Comando on keyboards and vocals, with drummer Tom Patterson adding some backing vocals. But the band is mostly Comando. In fact, Patterson is the second drummer/vocalist to help make up this band. They are kind of like a keyboardy version of Wye Oak or Tennis.
Comando sings in a shouty kind of way, very indie rock, really bellowing it out. Her keyboards tend to be happy, playing fun little melodies. Patterson backs this up with some rocking drums, the density of his playing keeping things from becoming a little too fey.
My favorite track here is Monocacy, where Comando pushes her voice down towards the lower reaches of her range, a huskiness that reminds me of Sharon Jones. This works really well with her keys and the drums. A lovely tune.
You is a happy, goofy tune that gets the album started off with an atmosphere of fun. I would say that Storytellers and Paycheck are similar tunes, just kind of bouncing along happily, not demanding a lot of thought while inviting you to shake it.
But the record is generally fun. And i think that is a good description: fun. It's not deep music, but sometimes you just need a catchy tune, and Slingshot Dakota deliver that.
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